Daily Journal writer Bobby Harrison writes:
I would assume the process is quite simple to rent the facility. People apply, put down a deposit, agree to certain terms and conditions and continue with their event.
If state officials would have continued that process when the same-sex couple applied, who would have known? The people at the event would have known about it, but few other people would have ever heard about it. I drive past the ag museum on Lakeland all the time. I see cars there, but never give it a second thought.
I don’t pull my truck over, run inside to see who is renting the space. But the point is, the same-sex commitment ceremony could have occurred without most people ever knowing it happened.
Instead, Mississippi officials opted to make it a national story. In fairness to Hyde-Smith, the policy banning same-sex ceremonies apparently pre-dates her tenure. The reason given for the ban was hinged on the fact same-sex marriage is not valid under the Mississippi Constitution.
But this has nothing to do with same-sex marriage or the homosexual agenda. This has everything to do with the United States Constitution – specifically the right to free speech or free expression and of equal accommodation.
Earlier this month literally tens of thousands Mississippians went to Chick-fil-A restaurants across the state not only to get a good sandwich, but to support the company’s management’s right to speak out against gay marriage.
Isn’t America grand?
If I want to rent a publicly owned building that is available for public use to look Bubba in the eye, tell him I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him, or if I want to rent it to bash any group that would support the right to look Bubba in the eye and repeat those things, then under the Constitution it should be available – in both instances.
Let me see if I understand your point, a publicly owned building should be avaliable to all, including those that desire to use it for something that is illegal. Illegal not only in Mississippi but in almost every other state, if not actually all states!!